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Exclusive Revealed: What Declan Rice said to Slovakia manager Francesco Calzona during fiery full-time exchange after England came from behind to win in last-16 clash
Fresh details have emerged of what was said during a fiery exchange between England midfielder Declan Rice and Slovakia manager Francesco Calzona at the end of last night’s Euro 2024 last-16 clash.
The Three Lions came from behind in dramatic fashion to secure their place in the quarter-finals with a 2-1 win in extra-time.
But as jubilant England players and fans celebrated at full-time, ex-Napoli boss Calzona stormed onto the pitch to confront Turkish referee Umut Meler about the Three Lions’ time-wasting.
When Rice tried to intervene and speak to him, the Slovakia boss reacted aggressively by shoving the Arsenal midfielder in the chest. Another member of his coaching staff could also be seen pushing the England star away.
Rice, who was seemingly telling Calzona not to bother speaking to the match officials, was left livid by the incident and had to be held back by team-mates Ivan Toney, Aaron Ramsdale and Ezri Konsa as they tried to defuse the situation.
Expert lipreader Jeremy Freeman told Mail Sport that during the altercation, a furious Rice said: ‘Shut up, p***y, oi, shut up, you bald ****.’
Calzona later revealed that he wanted to speak to the officials at full-time to complain about their failure to punish England’s time-wasting tactics during extra time.
‘Rice was supposed to go to the referees and leave,’ Calzona said. ‘I had to speak to the refs and he wasn’t leaving, he carried on. But then he apologised and it was all fine. I didn’t like the way the England team were wasting time and not punished.’
Slovakia were just seconds away from a historic victory before Jude Bellingham cancelled out Ivan Schranz’s first-half strike with a stunning acrobatic equaliser in the 95th minute which forced extra-time.
Tens of thousands of England fans in Germany and millions more at home then erupted when Three Lions captain Harry Kane headed home the winning goal just 51 seconds into extra time.
Kane’s goal gave England the opportunity to wind down the clock to secure their place in the quarter-finals.
Tensions were already high before the game, with Rice hitting out at some of the Slovakia players in his press conference.
The England star, who did not address the altercation, said: ‘There’s that inner fight and spirit in us [that] a few Slovakian players before the game said that we didn’t have. We’ve got that togetherness, we proved that tonight.
‘We’d do anything to protect this manager, protect each other.
‘We’ll keep going and keep fighting and what we’ve got as a group tonight showed out there. It’s an honour to be a part of it and we’re going to give it everything.’
Bellingham had also riled up the Slovaks by saying he didn’t know who the Three Lions were playing against in the lead up to the game.
After a gruelling 120 minutes of football, Calzona was left incensed by Slovakia’s late capitulation and vented his frustrations further during his post-match press conference.
‘The disappointment is huge,’ Calzona added. ‘But I feel more pride than disappointment. We almost won and advanced against the world-class team. We tried very hard, we almost advanced. We failed to advance.
‘In extra time, we spent half an hour in the opponent’s half. I’m proud that we managed it this way and did such a great job.’